Castle Combe Sports 2000 Championship (15th July 2017).
A nice break from uni since the exams meant students were fully recovered and the car fully prepared. Tim was also well rehearsed on the simulator as we set off down the M4 to Castle Combe.
Thursday afternoon’s testing was used to try out different cooling packages along with with some minor setup work specific for the circuit. Then the team returned to Swansea and checked the car over during Friday.
On Saturday it was an early start to head back to Castle Combe for race day, which was chilly with an uncertain weather forecast. Wet tyres were ready, but it would take more than a drizzle to dampen the optimism of Team MCR!
Qualifying
Qualifying was at 11am, with a large grid of Duratecs & Pintos! Some nice laps & Tim was up in 4th position with 5 minutes remaining! Unfortunately traffic on Tims last 3 laps meant he couldn’t improve, but a great qualifying session, with potentially more to come!
Race
At 4pm the cars lined up on the grid. As the lights went out, Gibbons starting in 2nd place on the front row didn’t get away (due to a fuel line failure) and started waving his arms. Everyone managed to avoid him except the last car who, unsighted ploughed into the back of him causing a red flag and a restart; Tim now starting 3rd! Another “typhoon Tim” start and he was in second place! Tim set the fastest lap on lap 2 and was catching Tom Stoten on lap 3. Tom responded and gapped Tim who was trying to pull away from Houghton. Unfortunately the car’s balance started to change, Houghton caught and after a battle passed Tim on lap 4. A lap later after the car getting worse and worse and Tim pulled off with a catastrophic tyre failure. It looks likely a slow puncture was the cause of the balance change and DNF. A real shame for the team not to get our second podium as we had real pace this weekend. The team look forward to trying to maintain the pace for Snetterton!
